Naps!! SOS

[gavinsmum1]

Sorry it wasn't lilianna, but nazmommy's posting that I was referring to.  Look at that!! I just figured out what that little pencil and paper at the end of postings was for!!!

[gavinsmum1]

Is it possible to have a burst of good naps during a gs?  DS took a two hour nap yesterday afternoon (after getting his immunizations).  Woke up and played. Cried and cried for half an hour- wouldn't even take a feed until 4.5 hour mark. Then we put him to bed.  He slept from 6:50-9:40 (woke for a bit), df at 10:15 and then slept WITH NO WAKE-UPs at all until 6AM!! We were shocked!!!! After all the nws he's had lately.  I fed him and put him back to bed and then woke him at 7:15.  Then he had another 2 hour nap this am!!!  He's currently 4 months and 8 days old, and hasn't been taking larger feeds, but his sleep has suddenly gotten significantly better this last 24 hours.  He's been napping this PM for the last hour and 35, so we'll see.  Yesterday we made a small stride toward the 4 hour EASY as he had only three naps instead of the three and CN.

[becky1969]

oh yes, you can def. get good naps during a growth spurt! They get extra tired often.  Just like with teething, I had to move my son's naps/bedtime earlier by 15 minutes or so to help him out.

It's also possible he's just getting used to whatever routine you've introduced.  Hang in there and take good notes! Some kids also get extra sleepy with immunizations.  I was never that lucky.  My son was NEVER a nap skipper -- unless he got shots! He would skip ALL naps the day after shots.  Sigh.  I really really hated that.    Good to know your kid isn't like that! 

[gavinsmum1]

Hey Becky,
Okay, we've noticed that he's able to be on the 4 hour EASY when he is up for an A time of about 2 hours 15 minutes- what's up with that?  We've seen this a few times.  We've been strictly following the A times suggested for his age which is about 1 hr. 45-50 min., but he's taking short naps (70-90 min).  Today, my hubby had him up for over 2 hours and he fared much better, so should we give this A time a shot tomorrow and see what happens.  His EASY looked like this today:
awake at 6:20 (left him in his crib to talk to himself until 7:15)
E 7:20 5 oz.
A
S 8:40-10:40
E 11:10 5 oz.
A
S 1-3:00
E 3:05- 4 1/2 oz.
A
S 4:20- 5 (in the car to pick up Gavin and I)
A
E 6:30 20 min. bf
S 6:50

This weekend, I took Gavin to my parents' cottage and Jesse was with Dad.  It just struck me that the same thing happened with Jesse the last time he was with Dad- he was kept up longer and slept longer, too.  Do I try the longer A time and risk him getting OT or just emulate today and keep him up longer?  One more thing- I noticed that the days that this has happened, his nf had been earlier than normal, at 3 am or so...

[becky1969]

If the longer A times are working, then go with them! Every child is diff.  BW offers guidelines for each age group, but some kids can handle less A time, some can handle more! Looks like your son may be able to handle more! This is invaluable info as time goes on you'll know that he just needs a bit more awake time than his age mates. 

I'd say continue at this A time (don't stretch any more) and see how he fares! But if he had long naps a full day at those A times then I suspect that it's something he can do! We'll know more after another 2-3 days.

Crossing my fingers for you!

[gavinsmum1]

Becky, I chickened out today with longer A times and got crappy naps for it!!
Today we kept him up for an 1 h 50 min. and he only slept 1 h 10 min. It threw off the whole day as he's now starting to go the 4 hours between feeds which meant that he had two short naps at the end of the day between feedings.  He was also suddenly taking 6 1/2 oz. bottles which is a little more than usual.  I'm determined after today (it took me 45 minutes to put him to bed because he was OT from short naps) that I'm going to try those longer A times tomorrow.  Even if he does show signs of being tired after about an hour and 50 min.  I'm pretty scared that he'll be OT, but at least if that does happen, he'll be more likely to go back to sleep than if he is UT and just takes a shorter nap.  I think the key is that he needs to take a good first morning feed like he did this morning to carry him through. 

[gavinsmum1]

Okay, so I braved the 2 hour A time today and- guess what?- a 2 hour 10 minute nap this morning!! We gave him a good 2 hour A time after that good nap and put him down for his second nap just before 1 pm.  He was REALLY ready for bed by that time, so we'll see what kind of nap we have now.  He's been quite wiggly since the 45 minute mark (it's now an hour in bed) and finding his thumb quite a bit, so we'll see how it goes...

[becky1969]

crossing my fingers, toes, eyes, and legs!    hope it goes well!

[gavinsmum1]

Well, we did a 2 hour 5 minute A time and he had a very restless nap from the 45 min. mark onward.  He did sleep for an hour and 30 min., which was better than some of his naps yesterday.  We had him down for a CN at 4:25 (I don't know how he did the 2 hour 5 minutes there, but... he did) until 5 and then bedtime by 6:50. Luckily he took his last feed at 6:30, which was 3 1/2 hrs since the last one~ and 6 1/2 oz. to boot!! He must be finally adjusting to the 4 hour E as his feeds were all over 6 oz. today~ as they should be!